This disclosure relates to a cleaning device for cleaning an atomizer, in particular a rotary atomizer. The disclosure further relates to a method for operating a cleaning device of this type.
Rotary atomizers may be used for painting vehicle body parts. With such usage, rotary atomizers need to be cleaned from time to time, because, e.g., deposits of surplus paint spray (overspray) can build up on the outside of the atomizer. Cleaning devices such as those known from DE 10 2010 052 698 A1, EP 1 671 706 A2, WO 97/18903 A1 and DE 10 2006 039 641 A1 may be used for this purpose. These known cleaning devices typically comprise a housing, into which the atomizer is introduced for cleaning, the atomizer then being sprayed with cleaning agent from cleaning nozzles inside the housing, wherein said cleaning agent can be a mixture of compressed air and cleaning fluid. EP 1 367 302 A2, DE 101 29 667 A1, GB 2 198 033 A, DE 10 2007 033 036 A1, US 2014/0008 457 A1, DE 195 08 725 A1 are also disclosures related to such prior systems.
Additionally, mobile cleaning devices comprising a rotatable cleaning trunk for dispensing a cleaning fluid are known from DE 20 2012 103 426 U1. However, these are mobile, portable cleaning devices, which are used for cleaning surfaces, as opposed to atomizers.
A disadvantage of the known cleaning devices for rotary atomizers is a relatively long cleaning time, which is not consistent with the transfer time of a painting facility, i.e. the time required during a change of the vehicle body to be painted, to convey the vehicle body that has already been painted out of the paint booth and to introduce the new, as yet unpainted, vehicle body into the paint booth. For example, in some painting facilities, such a changeover time of a vehicle body is 15 seconds. As, during the changeover time the atomizer is not in use, thus the atomizer is available for cleaning without holding up operations. It is therefore desirable to create a cleaning device that requires a shorter cleaning time, which is ideally shorter than the changeover time between consecutive vehicle bodies.